The Official TTC Thread!

[swimmer]

Wooooo Hoooo Lulu! A summer baby! You must be over the moon!

Blushing, my RE instructed us to bd the am before our am iui. DH still reminds me that we don''t know if it was the iui or the activities the day before and two days after, I just smile and agree that he has super sperm. Our iui instruction sheet said to not gotf 5-7 days after iui. I asked why and the tech told me it is to avoid sexual activities when implantation should be taking place...but the timeline is different from ff''s 9dpo implantation rule of thumb. Anyway, yes, Tiff is dead on with don''t abstain for too long before the iui, the sperm will be elderly and you want them nice and fresh. Your office should have info for you on this.

Fisher, I''m thinking of you too! So glad your HSG went great! I hear you on the 3, the doc was having difficulties inserting and told me that my cervix was being feisty, DH said "I was first attracted to her feisty cervix" so the nurse and I were howling with laughter when the Radiologist said it was fine and left with no other comment. To answer your questions, nope, only one baby! 11weeks now, even though the drugs (which i took at very low levels) put me at 40% for twins, that 60% won out. I''m lucky, no symptoms other than utter exhaustion.

Regarding Metformin, my RE says that in Europe women take it through the entire pregnancy. In the US, the standard is to end at 8 weeks, I ended at 10 and have been fine, hopefully the baby is too! We saw the baby nodding its head at that visit! Here is a large study finding lower rates of birth defects and lower rates of gestational diabetes in women who took metformin during pregnancy link. Met definitely helps prevent miscarriage, but I also did progesterone inserts for 10 weeks and am psyched to be done with that. Lulu must be doing that as well. I used to have an awesome relationship with my intestines, now we are not friends. Anyway, it seems like newer research is displacing older ideas about metformin. My friend who just went on it was told to be more careful with her birth control as it will help her fertility...she is pre-diabetic, but not clearly pcos. Anyway, the metformin helps ovulation, and it is super cheap, and while i always read that some people have huge side effects from it, I had nothing but positives. Pulling for you! We will all be on the preggo thread together soon!

Mandarine had her babies! wow, so happy i checked the internets here. Stuck in the chicago airport, but there is free wireless!

Festy, how goes it?

Tiff, Melz, thinking of you. Good luck ladies!

 

[Festy]

A big, huge congratulations to Lindsey and Lulu! Could not have logged on to better news!

 

[icekid]

Date: 10/12/2009 10:40:34 AM
Author: fisherofmengirly

Date: 10/12/2009 10:34:06 AM

Author: icekid

Wow, this thread is absolutely bursting with wonderful news! It's wonderful when our ladies get BPFs, but there is something so special when one of the long-time ladies gets one!


Lulu- So thrilled for you. Sending all of the sticky dust I can muster

Lindsey- How wonderful. You and your husband have my thoughts and prayers for a smooth pregnancy!


Congratulations ladies!


As for me... ahhhhh baby fever! We are visiting friends/family in Atlanta this weekend and just met the adorable babies who belong to my husband's friend. Their two year old daughter....

Such a little sweetie. I keep talking myself out of trying during residency periodically, but I don't think I can wait much longer

It was funny, because they also had a 7 week little guy and he was so tiny! Somehow I can imagine having a toddler, but not a tiny baby. Silly...

I'm like that sometimes, too. And then I'll flip, and think a baby would be so much easier than a strong-willed toddler. Lucky for them, babies are always a love at first site kinda thing and we will adapt and just go with the flow...


Good grief, they do come out tiny though, don't they? I love holding babies, but am always nervous with a brand new one... I wonder if that's the same when it's your own?


(How much longer is your residency?)

I suspect it's because the tiny newborns are just SO teeny and seemingly fragile. Once it is yours, it probably feels like second nature. But the newborns make me a little nervous! They seem more hardy once they're a bit older

Residency- 2 years and 9 months left. Plus probably another year of fellowship. Waiting that long seems VERY unlikely! But I work so much

 

[ljmorgan]

So ladies... looking at my chart below, do you think that there''s any chance I could be a good deal further along than I think I am based on my chart? Because my 16 dpo beta today come back at 1091!!!

I almost wrecked my car when the nurse told me. She said that as far along as I am, that they like to see a number at least over 100... and that mine was over 1000. I go back on Friday to check out my doubling times. She told me jokingly that we will be watching for multiples at my ultrasound in two weeks. I asked her if my number being so high indicated an ectopic or other problem, and she said no. I looked online and a normal beta for 16 dpo is about 200. I know that normal numbers can have a huge range... whew. Any thoughts?

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Wow Lindsey- that number's great! Couldn't they do an ultrasound now? I thought if the beta was over 1000 they should be able to see something on us.
Looking at your chart I could see it possible that you ovulated on day 18, especially with the temps on day 13 and day 16 look like they were taken at different times. But that doesn't explain the positive opk.
I can't remember, were you taking clomid?

ETA I would see what the next beta is and push for an earlier ultrasound. Not because I think there's anything wrong, but I'm certain if the beta's over 1000 they should see something on us, and I know you are anxious to see your little bean.
congrats again!!

 

[drk]

Lindsey - I think that''s a darn high beta for 16dpo - I''d be betting on twins. Either way, it''s a great strong number. I can''t see you having O''d earlier because of the timing of the BDing, the + OPK etc. And when you got your first + on the HPT. Guess you''ll find out more at the early U/S!

Lulu - Thousand congrats! What fantastic news. I wouldn''t read too much into changing darknesses of the HPTs. If it''s not significantly darker in another few days, then I''d worry. There''s just not enough time between 11dpo evening and 12dpo morning for a major increase in the HCG level, so just a change in your hydration level could skew the results. Hope all goes well!

 

[Pandora II]

Lindsey, I don''t want to worry you or anything, but have they ruled out any possibility of a hydatidiform mole? Only they can produce very high levels of HCG.

 

[ljmorgan]

Pandora, that''s exactly why I asked the RE nurse! I was thinking of ectopic/molars. She said that she didn''t think that it was a problem. I go back on Friday. What can we do to rule it out? Thanks!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 10/12/2009 6:23:52 PM
Author: *Lindsey*
Pandora, that''s exactly why I asked the RE nurse! I was thinking of ectopic/molars. She said that she didn''t think that it was a problem. I go back on Friday. What can we do to rule it out? Thanks!

I did a bit of googling and it seems that U/S is what they normally use for a diagnosis in combo with blood-tests. I couldn''t find ''what'' the HCG numbers would be if it was, or what they would be for multiples - seems like a lot of variables. Didn''t say when the U/S would be useful either... hmmm, no one seems to cater for all of us who know we are preggo super-early. Hyperemesis seems very common with it as well.

I''m not religious, but I will be doing the atheist version of praying for you to have a great result in every way!

 

[Puppmom]

Holy crap! Congrats, Lulu! Since reading Lindsey''s news I''ve gone back and read page after page of this thread. Big congrats to both of you and here''s to a happy and healthy pregnancy.

 

[cara]

Lindsey, if you ovulated on the 18th, BD on the evening of the 19th would be unlikely to result in conception. But we learned from excess lit searching the temps are not a good way to precisely determine ovulation day - OPK is much better, which agrees with the FF prediction. I remember from my miscarriage bloodwork research that there is huge variation in the normal ranges for betas. And I wouldn''t be too psyched about a super-early ultrasound. If the gestational age is right and they can''t see anything that would be a bummer, and just result in more waiting. See what the docs say! Fingers crossed for a good outcome for you!

 

[neatfreak]

Lindsay Not to freak you out but I also had high betas and ended up with twins! So that would be a great outcome. However, my doctor was quite worried when my bets came back about molar and ectopic pregnancies. So please make sure they give you an u/s sooner rather than later to rule out those possibilities. A good friend of mine just lost a fallopian tube to an ectopic that they failed to diagnose.

Anyway, when are they planning your first u/s? Did I miss it?

 

[ljmorgan]

My U/S will be scheduled when I go in for my second beta next Friday. The RE nurse said that they like to do them at 6.5ish weeks -- which for me is two weeks from now.. She said that they like to do them at that time because you should be able to see a heart beat by then. If this is ectopic/molar, would a 6.5ish week U/S be soon enough to make sure I don''t blow a tube?

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Date: 10/12/2009 8:38:17 PM
Author: *Lindsey*
My U/S will be scheduled when I go in for my second beta next Friday. The RE nurse said that they like to do them at 6.5ish weeks -- which for me is two weeks from now.. She said that they like to do them at that time because you should be able to see a heart beat by then. If this is ectopic/molar, would a 6.5ish week U/S be soon enough to make sure I don''t blow a tube?

Probably. I don''t know what the literature says for sure but I *think* you are more at risk for rupture when you get to the 8 week mark. My first ruptured at 8.5 weeks.
Did they check a progesterone level too or just a beta?
Is the next beta Friday? I thought they normally did beta''s 48 hours apart.

 

[ljmorgan]

Hey Tiffany, I''m not sure if they measured my prog too -- if they did, the nurse didn''t mention it to me. I also thought that betas were done every 48 hours -- I have no clue why I am supposed to go back Friday instead of Wednesday. However I''m a member of fertilityfriend and some of those women had their betas done 4 days, 10 days apart. Not sure. But I do know that they can calculate the doubling times no matter the frequency of your betas. Has anyone else here had betas done that were not 48 hours apart?

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Blushing- how was the hsg? I hope it went well.
Festy- Nice to see you around, how''s it going?
Fisher, Swimmer and Blushing- thanks for asking about me, I do have an update, although it''s not a good one.
The last week has been a rollercoaster. Since the ectopic was diagnosed, we had been following the beta''s and they had been decreasing, some weeks by quite a bit. So I finally got to the point that I really thought everything was going to be ok and wasn''t super scared anymore. Well last Tuesday at work I had what I thought was indigestion, it sort of felt like I was getting a stomach virus. We ate lunch in the cafeteria (I work at a children''s hospital) and after lunch I felt like I was going to pass out. They took me to the ER there and then I started having abdominal pain. I was transferred to an adult hospital, the one my RE is at. He wasn''t on call that day I saw another doc from their practice. They did bloodwork and an ultrasound (hcg still on it''s way down) and they found a clot on the ultrasound, near the tube/ovary. I had no active bleeding (according to us) and by that point the pain had stopped, I was just sore. They attributed the clot to the methotrexate breaking up the ectopic and kept me overnight for observation. By Wednesday morning I felt better, although scared at that point, but saw my doc and nobody seemed to think I needed surgery. My hemoglobin was stable and I was doing better, so I went home. Took the rest of the week off from work.
By Thursday night I felt much better. About 3 am Friday morning I woke up again stomach not feeling well. Took some zofran they had given me and tried to go back to sleep. Then I started having extreme pain. Worse than the first time the tube ruptured. Woke up my husband but I couldn''t stand I was so dizzy. Tried again to stand and couldn''t, had to call 911 and went back to the hospital. They gave me morphine which really didn''t help but only made me dizzier. The us showed free fluid in my abdomen (blood). My doctor was on call that night (I was very happy about that) and he came quickly to the ER and said we were going to the OR (which I already suspected). At that point my blood pressure was fairly low and they got me to the or quickly. The surgery was done laparoscopically. The tube had not ruptured, but he said as soon as he touched the clot I started bleeding. He had to take the tube out. I ended up getting transfused with 4 units of blood (which is quite a bit) and my counts are still a little low. I must have bled a lot because now my abdomen is one big purple bruise. I''ve never seen anything quite like it.
Part of me was upset that they had to remove the tube and part of me is glad to know that this can''t happen again. Mostly I''m just thankful to still be here.
Now we know what our next step will be when we are ready.
Sorry this is so long, and if I rambled I''m going to blame it on the percocet!
Thanks everyone for your support through all of this.

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Lindsey- my beta''s were sort of messed up because of the Labor day holiday, so they just adjusted. Maybe just because it''s so early they are waiting longer? Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[ljmorgan]

Tiffany I am so sorry to hear what happened -- what an awful week! That is very scary, and yes 4 units is a lot of blood to receive. They had to remove one of your fallopian tubes? I hope that you are taking it easy... we''ll all be pulling for a fast recovery for you.

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Thanks Lindsey.
They removed the right fallopian tube, the left one ruptured and was removed with an ectopic in December 2007. So now I have no tubes. But both ovaries are there and still working properly. Which leaves IVF as our only option.

 

[Puppmom]

Tiffany, what a rough week! I am so sorry to hear all that you''ve gone through. I hope that you feel on the up and up soon and that DH is being especially lovely to you

I know this must be very difficult so take care of yourself and know that we''re all thinking of you.

 

[neatfreak]

Tiffany I am so sorry to hear that.

As I said one of my good friends just went through that-so hard. We''re all thinking about you.

Lindsey: They never took mine again after I got the super high number-but they did have me come in for an u/s ASAP. Personally if I were in your shoes I would be pushing for something earlier-whether that be betas, an u/s, whatever. I just wouldn''t want to mess with the possibility of a molar or ectopic.

Were you on clomid? The likelihood of twins is higher than that of an ectopic or molar even normally and of course even more likely if you were on clomid-and who knows it could be nothing but a strong bean! You are at a higher risk for rupture if it is ectopic when you are further along but you don''t want to get to that point KWIM? But Friday should be soon enough-just make sure they have some kind of plan in place then to figure out what (if anything) is up.

 

[Laila619]

Lindsey,

I bet it''s twins.

 

[lovelylulu]

Tiffany, I''m sorry, but I am glad that you are okay and that you still have options. hope that your bruising goes away very soon.

Lindsay, sounds like you''re getting good advice from the other ladies here. I hope that it''s just really strong little bean(s) in there.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Tiffany - I am so so sorry to hear what you went through. Thank goodness you are ok. I hope you are healing well. I am glad that IVF will be an option for you. Take care.

 

[AmberWaves]

Tiffany, I am so sorry you''re having to go through all of this again.

 

[blushingbride]

Tiffany - WOW! So sorry to hear about what happened to you last week - it sounded SCARY.

But, as hard as it is to lose both tubes, you must feel some sense of relief knowing that this will NOT happen again. After hearing your story, I think you''ve had enough. Now you can solely focus on IVF - best of luck to you!

Lindsay - keep us posted! I can''t really say what the "issue" is, but sounds like you''ll get some answers soon.

As for me, my HSG went well yesterday and both tubes are wide open and my uterus is completely normal (love that word)!

I was very nervous about it, mostly because I knew there would be discomfort, but also because I was scared of the outcome. I had to go to the radiology department at my hospital, but luckily my RE was the one who preformed the test (I was happy about that). It there was definitel pain involved for me. I was told I''d feel a severe cramp for about a minute and that part was the worst of it. I was told to keep my arms at my side so, I clentched my fists and took deep breaths (I even thought of Fisher and started counting). Needless to say, it was NOT fun.

After she went over the results with me and told me that things looked great, I jokingly said, "OK, so my tubes are open and my uterus is normal, so what''s the problem?" She said that it''s better to have unexplained infertility as the only issue, then to discover you actually have a problem. She went on to say that unexplained infertility has a high success rate with treatments.

I also asked her about our upcoming IUI and when we should BD. She told me to BD that night and then hold out until the sample is needed. I see her again tomororw for bloodwork and ultrasound so, I''ll have a better sense of when the IUI will take place.

 

[Laila619]

Tiffany, I''m so sorry.

Did the doctor ever have a theory as to why the pregnancies kept being ectopic? Were your tubes narrowed?

It sounds like IVF will (hopefully) be a good experience for you and your DH.

 

[Laila619]

Fisher and blushing,

Yay for clear tubes! They say that after an HSG, you are more likely to get pregnant. The HSG makes your tubes a little slippery and it's easier to conceive!

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Puppmom, Neatfreak, Lulu, Amber, Lovesvintage, Blushing and Laila- Thanks for your kind words. As far as why it keeps happening nobody seems to know. The first time it happened the tube ruptured and was in such bad shape he couldn''t really tell anything from it. This time when he went in he said he would save it if he could but it bled too much, he did say there were some adhesions but I don''t know from what. When we talked I was still groggy from the anesthesia so I''ll ask at my follow up appointment. I did have abdominal surgery in 2005 for fibroids so I guess that could be it. I had 2 hsg''s that showed clear tubes, so they weren''t necessarily blocked but appearantly didn''t work right.

Blushing- good news for clear tubes!! I was told when I did the first hsg that if your cervix is tight (ie you haven''t had previous children) then it is sometimes hard to get the dye in and that part can be painful. With my first one the dye didn''t go in the first time and they had to do a 2nd, that one was painful! The 2nd time I had it done it was a piece of cake.

 

[swimmer]

Tiffany, thinking of you lady, sending more love. Your perspective sounds healthy and well, there is still a way. Hoping you are chilling and watching Days.

Lindsey, well, you might have ovulated earlier than you think...perhaps you didn''t list on ff all the days you gotf? Here is a link to beta levels that might comfort you, others have had up to 9xs higher and had a successful singleton link.

Blushing, great news about normal, yes it sucks to not know what the reason is, but at least you know nothing should be impeding this process? good luck.

Did you guys read the nytimes bit on fertility treatments? It made me cry so hard I''m not listing it here, but it is a most forwarded article now so easy to find. The debate on the website over fertility treatments is hard to read, like so many other things I just wonder how people who have never encountered a situation can have such strong feelings about what others should do with their bodies. Anyway, it is interesting reading, but hit rather close to home...